‘Billions’ Season 1, Episode 11: The Doctor Is In

Season 1, Episode 11: ‘Magical Thinking’

So we’ve reached the penultimate episode of “Billions” (oh, that special time in every season when TV critics get to bust out the word “penultimate”) and it turns out to be an atypically somber affair for a show that might be expected to step on the gas before the finale. In the wake of Donnie’s death and the resultant dissolution of the case against Bobby Axelrod, however, we instead get a dark-night-of-the-soul episode, filled with somber reflection, scenes of regret and reconciliation, and the crossing of a new set of lines. A few literal fireworks were set off this week; the metaphorical ones are sure to follow.

The air of uncertainty meant that tonight was Wendy’s time to shine. It was an opportunity to finally explore what makes her tick. Chuck and Bobby are schemers, and much of the fun of “Billions” comes from watching their game of three-dimensional chess. But they’re not all that mysterious: At bottom, they’re men of titanic ego and boundless influence going to war with each other. Wendy, however, is more inscrutable, because she devotes so much of her energy and intellect to helping Chuck and Bobby function, but seems to get so little back in return. Nobody asks her what she needs, so we only know that she’s needed. Her eye wanders, but she doesn’t stray. Perhaps the power of controlling these powerful men is fulfilling — she is, after all, dominant.

She’s also good at her job, and “Billions” has gotten better at defining why that job is essential. Wendy says it best this week after an executive at a female-friendly firm makes a play for her services: “You want me to make your people assassins.” In her capacity as a psychologist, though, making people assassins isn’t necessarily the same as making them healthier human beings, and that’s one inherent problem with her work that the show hasn’t fully exploited yet. It’s likely that the two goals intersect in most cases — a happy employee is a good employee, and everyone will feel good about him or her working up to full potential. But embedded in Wendy’s work is a similar question to that faced by Dr. Melfi on “The Sopranos”: Is she just turning out better-functioning gangsters here?

The centerpiece of “Magical Thinking” is a long-overdue session between Bobby and Wendy after he’s jammed through a trade, against the advice of his people, that could cost Axe Capital a billion dollars. We’ve learned recently that Bobby is more fallible than he appears, and finally he seems to have realized it, too, attributing the bad trade to some mental lapse he cannot identify. Part of it is related to the episode title: If you think you’re “Warren Buffett and God above,” as Bobby does, then you’re going to believe your lone-wolf insight on a risky trade is the correct one. But the two keep talking and the true source of Bobby’s psychosis comes out.

Last week, “Billions” teased the threat of Wendy finding out the truth about Donnie’s deployment as a planted informant, which worried Lara especially, because the case made her question Wendy’s loyalty to Axe Capital. To have that revelation come straight from Bobby’s mouth tonight was a strong choice on the show’s part and a strong choice on Bobby’s part, too, since it tests his relationship with Wendy directly. She doesn’t flinch at the news — after Donnie bottled up in his final days, she perhaps appreciates the candor — so Bobby pushes further. Not only did he use Donnie to blow up the case against him, he confesses, but he denied him access to treatment that would have extended his life, because it would have threatened his plan.

Wendy and Bobby arrive at a terrific insight into Bobby’s character. “I cannot believe I have the capacity to do that to someone I care about,” says Bobby, who speculates that he blew the trade to punish himself. Wendy peels back another layer: Perhaps the real reason Bobby is upset is that he doesn’t care about his people at all, and in fact, may be incapable of feeling anything. At this moment, with his “wiring exposed,” he hovers dangerously close to being a sociopath. And we know in his capacity as a hedge-fund billionaire, sociopathic behavior isn’t exactly discouraged.

So where does that leave Wendy, who’s been exploring her options lately? “Magical Thinking” suggests it keeps her in place. The revelations about Bobby’s diabolical actions don’t bother her, at least not enough to temper her relief in hearing those revelations firsthand. Donnie cut her off. Her husband has lied to her repeatedly. Now Bobby has done her the courtesy of full disclosure. She feels useful, informed, and back in the loop. She can resume making these men better monsters. The doctor — Dr. Frankenstein — is in.

Bulls and Bears:

• The best exchange of the night comes right at the top, when Mafee, one of Bobby’s portfolio managers, tells him he hasn’t slept and he usually sleeps like a bear:

• Chuck makes some significant moves in the shadows. He agrees to press for his friend (Rob Morrow) from the Justice Department to take over Wilcox’s place on the federal bench, in exchange for his friend pressing for a Chuck-friendly candidate to take over his position. He then lucks into Bobby’s file on his wife’s laptop, zeroing in on a bribery confession that could open up a new case against him.

• Funny scene with Bryan and Sacker rejecting an office-desk hookup because it’s too cliché. If their legal and political careers don’t work out, perhaps they’ll have a place in a TV writer’s room.

• Chuck’s unauthorized visit to an underground dominatrix takes a terrific turn when he confesses and the dominatrix shifts from an S-and-M Freddy Krueger to a concerned marital therapist.

• Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, the team behind “Half Nelson,” “Sugar,” and “Mississippi Grind,” join the show’s roster of esteemed directors better known for film than television. Neil Burger (“Limitless,” “Divergent”), James Foley (“Glengarry Glen Ross”), Neil LaBute (“In the Company of Men”), John Dahl (“Red Rock West,” “Rounders”), and Karyn Kusama (“Girlfight”) are others. Mr. Fleck and Ms. Boden, specialists in social dramas, are an appropriate choice for an episode that’s more about psychology than conspicuous consumption.

Correction:April 4, 2016

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the role of Rob Morrow. His character is with the Justice Department, not the district attorney’s office.